Milledgeville tattoo artist accused of inking 15-year-old girl

A 15-year-old girl kept her tattoo a secret for nearly a month before her mother found out about it.

According to a police report, the teenager went to Lokey Tattoo just south of Milledgeville on New Year’s Eve where she got the permanent ink drawing, her mother told police at the station Feb. 1.

The teen’s mother said a family friend told her about the tattoo late in January, and she “just wanted something done,” the report said. She said her daughter “was not required to sign any paperwork nor show him any ID” at the tattoo parlor on South Wayne Street.

The tattoo artist, 42-year-old Douglas Edwin Taylor, was arrested Feb. 2 and charged with tattooing a minor. He was freed the same day on a $2,000 property bond, according to Baldwin County sheriff’s officials.

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Baldwin County health official Colin Duke said Lokey Tattoo is closed as the investigation continues. Duke said the teen’s mother claimed Taylor didn’t change needles or sanitize between tattoos, but those claims are still being investigated.

It is a misdemeanor in Georgia to tattoo person under 18 years of age, according to state law.

Meanwhile, the Georgia Department of Public Health has not adopted any statewide tattoo studio or body art rules, said department spokeswoman Nancy Nydam, and so it doesn’t get complaints, regulate or certify the industry.

However, Nydam said most counties in Georgia have adopted their own local body art ordinances. Baldwin is one of them.

Last May it adopted local rules regarding body art, Duke said. The rules require tattoo parlors to pay a fee for inspection among other stipulations.

Taylor was working to get in compliance with the new local rules.

“I actually went by, dropped off the paperwork and gave them an application ... and had been working with them to try to get them open,” Duke said. “We just had not actually received all the paperwork and actually made an inspection on it.”